Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to an apparatus for
starting rotation of a non-driven spool on which a tape
such as a large-width semi-product tape for touch-and-close
or surface-type fasteners is wound.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
Generally, in the manufacture of touch-and-close or
surface-type fasteners for example, a roll of large-width
semi-product tape wound on a large-sized non-driven spool
is reeled off the spool and is fed to a subsequent
processing station, such as for washing, dyeing or cutting,
as the leading portion of the tape is tracted by a pair of
driven feed rollers. However, since inertia of the loaded
spool is very large especially when the roll of the tape is
large and heavy, the spool is difficult to start rotation
solely by the driving force of the feed rollers which is
limited in amount. To this end, an attendant or workperson
is needed to push the spool in the circumferential
direction by hand to assist in starting the driven rotation
of the spool by the feed rollers; such manual rotation is
laborious and dangerous. Other problems with this
conventional practice are: that the tape can be easily
damaged causing inadequate quality products; that the motor
can be easily damaged due to overload; and that the feeding
rate of the tape is changeable. Consequently a required
rate of production is difficult to achieve.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to
provide an apparatus for starting rotation of a large-sized
non-driven spool smoothly without any damage to either the
tape or the driving system for tape-feeding, thus
guaranteeing accurate feeding of the tape to a subsequent
processing station. This apparatus is particularly
suitable for use in starting rotation of the spool
especially when the roll of the tape is large and heavy.
According to the present invention, an apparatus for
starting rotation of a non-driven spool comprises a frame,
a lever a base of which is pivotally mounted on one side of
the frame by a pivot, a first cylinder a base of which is
pivotally mounted on the same side of the frame by the
pivot, a kick-out arm pivotally connected at its base to a
distal end of the lever and at its head to a distal end of
a first piston rod of the first cylinder, a second cylinder
horizontally mounted on the other side of the frame and
having a second piston rod pivotally connected at its
distal end to a midportion of the lever via a link. The
kick-out arm is angularly movable about the distal end of
the lever by the action of the first cylinder, while the
lever is pivotally movable about the pivot at the base of
the lever by the action of the second cylinder. For
starting, by a combined motion of the pivotal movements o
the kick-out arm and the lever, the head of the kick-out
arm is moved forwardly along a predetermined locus to push
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the peripheral surface of the spool so as to rotate the
spool. After the rotation of the spool has been started,
by the combined motion of the pivotal movements of the
kick-out arm and the lever, the head of the kick-out arm is
returned to its original position away from the peripheral
surface of the spool along a different locus.
Many other objects, features and additional
advantages of the present invention will become manifest to
those versed in the art upon making reference to the
detailed description and the accompanying sheets of
drawings in which preferred structural embodiment
incorporating the principle of the present invention is
shown by way of illustrative example.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a spool-rotation starting
apparatus embodying the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of FIG. 3; and
FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view showing the manner in
which a head of a kick-out arm is moved to start rotation
of a spool.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The principle of the present invention is
particularly useful when embodied in a spool-rotation
starting apparatus (hereinafter referred to as "apparatus")
such as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
The apparatus generally comprises a lever 5
horizontally pivotable about a pivot 15, a first cylinder 6
-- 3 --
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horizontally pivotable about the pivot 15, a second
cylinder 11 for pivotally moving the lever 5, and a
kick-out arm 7 pivotally connected at its base 7a to one
end of the lever 5 by a first pin 8 and at its head 7b to a
distal end of a first piston rod 6b of the first cylinder 6
by a second pin 9.
The lever 5 is pivotally connected at its base 5a to
a bracket 3 by the pivot 15, the bracket 3 being fixedly
attached to one side of a support post 2 of L-shaped cross
section of a frame 1. The first cylinder 6 also is
pivotally connected at its base 6a to the bracket 3 by the
same pivot 15, the base 6a being spaced from the base 5a of
the lever 5 by a predetermined distance along the pivot 15.
The second cylinder 11 is horizontally supported on a
support plate 4 fixedly attached to the other side of the
frame 1 and has a second piston rod lla pivotally connected
at its distal end to a midportion of the lever 5 via a link
14 by third and fourth pins 12, 13.
In the illustrated embodiment, each of the first and
second cylinders 6, 11 is an air cylinder which uses
compressed air, but may be a liquid cylinder which uses oil
or water.
The head 7b of the kick-out arm 7 has an arcuate end
surface 7c to which a friction shoe 10 such as of leather,
rubber or synthetic resin is attached.
Before the starting operation, as shown in FIG. 3,
the apparatus is positioned in such a manner that the
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friction shoe 10 of the kick-out arm 7 is disposed at a
point P (FIG. 3) spaced a predetermined distance from the
peripheral edge of a spool S, at which time the axis C-C of
the first cylinder 6 extends substantially tangentially of
the peripheral edge of the spool S, and that as the second
piston rod lla of the second cylinder 11 is expanded to the
maximum, the firction shoe 10 of the kick-out arm 7 is
moved to a start point Pl to contact the peripheral edge of
the spool S, and that as the first piston rod 6b of the
first cylinder 6 is expanded to the maximum, the friction
whoe 10 of the kick-out arm 7 is moved to a terminal point
P3 to contact the peripheral edge of the spool S. At the
point P both the first and second piston rods 6a, lla of
the first and second cylinders 6, 11 are retracted to the
maximum.
In operation, with the shoe 10 of the kick-out arm 7
disposed at the point P, as the second piston rod lla of
the second piston rod 11 is expanded forwardly, the lever 5
is pivotally moved clockwise to push the shoe 10 of the
kick-out arm 7 from the point P to the start point Pl where
the shoe 10 is in contact with the peripheral edge of the
spool S.
Subsequently, with the shoe 10 of the kick-out arm 7
disposed at the starting point Pl, as the first piston rod
6b of the first cylinder 6 is expanded forwardly, the
kick-out arm 7 is pivotally moved anticlockwise about the
first pin 9, in response to which the second piston rod lla
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of the second cylinder 11 is retracted to a slight extent
slowly. This retracting causes the lever 5 to pivotally
move anticlockwise about the pivot 15. By a combined
motion of the pivotal movements of the lever 15 and the
kick-out arm 7, the shoe 10 of the pick-out arm 7 is moved
from the start point _l to the terminal point _3 via an
intermediate point P2 along a predetermined locus, pushing
the spool S so as to cause the same to rotate in the
direction of an arrow. Thus rotation of the spool S has
been started.
After starting of rotation of the spool S, the first
piston rod 6b of the first cylinder 6 is retracted to cause
the kick-out arm 7 to pivotally move anticlockwise about
the first pin 8, during which time the second piston rod
lla of the second cylinder 11 continues retracting to cause
the lever 5 to pivotally move anticlockwise about the pivot
15. As a result, the shoe 10 of the kick-out arm 7 is
removed from the peripheral edge of the spool S and is
returned to the original point P from the terminal point P3
via another intermediate point _4 along a different
predetermined locus. Thus a single cycle of the starting
operation of the apparatus has been completed.
Practically, the amount of moment of rotation
required for starting of the spool S varies within a
considerably wide range depending on the amount of the
wound tape, the diameter of the spool and the amount of the
driving force of the driven feed rollers of a subsequent
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processing station. In such event the above-described
cycle of starting operation may be repeated until an
adequate amount of moment of rotation can be achieved.
Alternatively, more than one spool-rotation starting
apparatus of this construction may be used in side-by-side
arrangement in order to start more than one spool
simultaneously.
Although various minor modifications may be suggested
by those versed in the art, it should be understood that I
wish to embody within the scope of the patent granted
hereon, all such embodiments as reasonably and properly
come within the scope of my contribution to the art.
